🌹 Stat of the Day: Every rose has its thorn—and also used to be the same color as Big Bird.

After analyzing the genomes of 80+ Rosa species—roses of all colors, such as white, red, pink, and peach, belong to the genus Rosa in the Rosaceae family—researchers in a recently published study were able to trace all roses back to one common ancestor: a yellow, single-petal flower with seven leaflets.

• As roses evolved and were domesticated, they developed new colors, distinct petal markings, and the ability to bloom in clusters, per the study.

Big picture: There are currently 150-200 species of roses and 35,000+ cultivars, spawned by a rose-breeding renaissance in the 1700s that involved crossing Chinese and European plants, Phys.org reports. Overall, roses account for ~30% of the cut-flower market.

🤔 Did You Know? The measles virus is considered especially dangerous because it can cause “immune amnesia,” meaning patients’ immune systems forget how to fight pathogens they had previously obtained immunity to.

📰 Worth a Read: Was Talos, the bronze automaton of Greek myth, an early example of artificial intelligence?